Ringman

Tonight for FHE Russ was helping the girls go over the names of the apostles.  He asked the girls if they knew who President Monson's cousnelors were.

Lily excitedly: "I know, I know!"

Russ: "Okay who?!"

Lily: "Ringman!"

Russ and I give each other a look.  Then I get it...

Me: "You mean EyeRING?"

Lily: "Yeah I get him mixed up with the song, ya know...where is Ringman?"

All I can say is....

LOL!

Again, and again, and again....

Lily's school schedule has been worrying me all summer.  Her release time would be 3:30.  How do I pick her up and get Allie to nap?  Monday after lunch I still hadn't made a decision to solve this problem, so I called Russ and he told me to just have Allie skip it.   There just wasn't any way around it.  So we did just that. There has definitely been some gnashing of teeth around dinner time and bed time, her two most tired moments of the day, but in general she has been taking it in stride.

This morning Allie was quite cheerful and had a great time at playgroup.  We had a late lunch and while Charlotte was sleeping she began to play with her little people.  I went in my bedroom to work on some computer stuff.  She wandered in five minutes later and asked for a snack.  I agreed since her lunch had been small, but I requested she wait for me to finish up what I was doing.  She replied with her cute little tired voice, "Okay momma."  She sat down on the floor next to me and played quietly with a Barbie she had brought in with her.

A few minutes later I turned to her to say we could get her snack now, when I realized that she had fallen asleep holding her Barbie no less...

 I smiled thinking that she had played hard and her missed naps had caught up with her.  She slept the two and half hours until it was time to pick up Lily.  Allie woke up flushed but I thought nothing of it, she always wakes up like that.  We picked up Lily and walked home.  All four of us got large drinks of water when I noticed Allie was still flushed.  Well, it had been hot outside, so again I thought nothing of it.  Around five Allie came up to me still flushed and said, "Mommy I hurt here" while pointing to her belly.  After a few diagnostics it seems that Allie is coming down with something....possibly strep.  Her tonsils are HUGE, she has a fever, can't swallow without wincing in pain, and possibly has a white spots on her tonsils.  Seems that her nap was more likely illness induced.  Guess I'll be heading to the doctors....again!  I think pretty soon I'll be on a first name basis with them considering how often we've been seeing them lately!

I am a first grader!

The first day of school kind of snuck up on me this year.  I got up early this morning to finish a few last minute school things.  I through together a present for Lily's teacher...it was super cute but I didn't have time to take a picture of it.  I put together a little basket of Lily's favorite things for a first day of school present.  She got some gum, tic tacs, white board markers, pencils, and few other things.  Again no picture!  Then it was time to get my 1st grader up and going for the day.  I barely had to whisper "Lily" before she popped out of bed excited for school.  She got herself ready and I asked her what she would like me to make her for breakfast to which she replied "Bee cheerios".  Ummm....okay.

After getting Charlotte and Allie up and going we headed outside to take our traditional first day of school pictures.  I was a bit bummed to see that our neighbor had his sprinkler going and it was watering our tree where I had taken Lily's school pictures {and most every outdoor picture I take} last year.  So we scooted over a few feet.  Speaking of feet, did you know that fire ants REALLY hurt when they bite you?!  There were ants all over our lawn and I just wanted to the darn picture so I ignored them biting me even though my right foot suffered heavily from it.

Her is my oh so grown up girl on her first day!

I found this adorable sign last night on Pinterest.  Soooo glad I did!  Each year I'm going to photograph her with a new sign.  I don't care if she thinks it is lame when she is a 10th grader she is still going to do it! : )

We made the short walk to school.  Lily was excited but nervous, and walked by me.  Allie happily held my hand and walked next to me.  Charlotte was the most excited because she was in her snugli and could see everyone and everything! LOL!  

Imagine there is a picture here of Lily standing in front of her school.  I did take the picture but I'm too lazy to blur out the name of it, and since it is a BIG NO-NO to post your kids school on the internet I'm not going to.

 We walked inside and Lily whispered. "What if I can't find Mrs. Hill's line?" I reminded her that there would be signs showing her where to sit.  As soon as we got in the cafeteria she walked off to her line.  Allie, Charlotte, and I circled around so I could get a picture of her.  Yep she was still nervous.  She kept looking back at me to make sure I was there.

By this time I was wondering if I should leave.  Most of the parents sticking around were those of kindergartners.  I mentally shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't care I want pictures!"  So we stuck around through the Pledges and moment of silence{it is still weird to me that Texas has its own pledge}.  Then the kids began to go to their classrooms.  As Lily left I said her name, thus resulting in this hilarious picture of her!  I looked at it later and was a relieved to see her smiling though.  I knew she was feeling more comfortable if she was giving real smiles.

Allie, Charlotte, and I got through the massive crowd in the hallways and out to the sidewalk.  I started to get apprehensive, and waited to see if Allie would be upset about leaving sister behind.  We walked a little way and then Allie began to sing, "Bye-bye Lily, bye-bye Lily, bye-bye Lily!"  I had to smile as she sang this little song she had learned in nursery.  With her sweet voice singing us home, I knew all of us would have a great first day of school!

Big Girl Bathseat

Charlotte got promoted to the big girl bath seat tonight.  I was super excited because I wouldn't have to worry anymore about her slippin' and slidin' around.  Also no more stressing about if the water in her ear is going to give her an ear infection.  Look how happy and cute she is sitting in it!

Shortly after these pictures were taken Charlotte got demoted back to the "lay down in an inch of water for a bath" method.  She let go of her book and dived for it losing her balance.  I tried sitting her up about 10 different times to no avail.  She just couldn't balance in it, so we are back to the lay down baths.  Oh well, she's still cute!

Flip Flop Fling and Watermelon Bash

Our last library event for this year was a watermelon bash and flip flop fling.  Before we went and participated in these activities the girls turned in their reading logs to get their 6th and last reward.  They received a gold medal for completing their reading and they also got to choose a book for their own.  Allie chose the Three Little Pigs and Lily chose Sam the Seal.  They were excited about both rewards.  I could barely pry the book out of Allie's hands so she could go to the watermelon bash.

Unfortunately the watermelon bash wasn't as exciting as it sounds.  It consisted of the kids eating some watermelon.  Lily hates watermelon, but gave it a try.  After one teeny bite she handed hers over to Allie.  I was amazed at Allie who polished off her piece, Lily's piece, and half of my piece!  She asked for more but I put an end to that idea.

We all walked outside for the flip flop fling.  Unfortunately we hadn't been planning on attending this event so the girls weren't wearing their flip flops.  I helped them unbuckle their sandles and put them on the edge of their toes, but they still weren't very successful.  They still had fun though.  Lots of giggles all around as they watched their shoes fly backwards!  They each got a little particpation prize.  Allie got a little sticky lizard that she immediately named pet.  Lily chose a toy dinosaur, and odd choice for her but she seemed to enjoy playing with it.

I'm sad to see the program come to end.  We were able to do some fun things because of it.  Hopefully Allie, Charlotte, and I will be able to go to story time this fall so we can get our library fix!

Helpful Charlotte

Charlotte loves to help daddy in many different ways.  Her current favorite is helping daddy study for his big tests at work.  Russ is taking a month long class at work.  I can't remember why other than "it is good to further his career".  Anyway, see Charlotte she is helping daddy...

Hmm what are all those funny squiggles on there?

Maybe if I taste it then it will make more sense.

Maybe daddy can explain it to me, oh wait daddy fell asleep studying!

Charlotte at Seven Months

Likes:

Feeding herself.  I'm only giving her little puffs and occasionally some cheerios, but she prefers eating them over her solids.  

Dislikes:

Being out of eyesight of mommy or daddy.  Any time we move more than a few feet away from her she freaks out and starts crying and complaining.  This may be a direct result from leaving her with a babysitter for the first time, or it cold just be a growing milestone.

Quirks:

Tilts her head all the way onto her shoulder and smiles at you.

The past month's milestones:

Learned to sit up unassisted!  She still will flop over sometimes, and if she gets tired she'll totally nose dive.  But for the most part I can leave her sitting on the floor by herself while I run and quickly do something...that is if she doesn't notice me leaving her, lol!

A favorite memory:

Clothes size:

Some 6 mo 

9 mo and 12 mo

Diaper Size:

3

I tired a new location for her pictures and even though it was a tight squeeze I think the lighting was better. Charlotte was highly cooperative and I was able to capture a few of her personality traits that make her unique.  Also I about died when I tried on the dress she is wearing in the photos.  Allie wasn't wearing this dress until she 1 year old!  Geesh Charley is such a big girl!

Here's our big girl showing off her sitting skills.

Charlotte's hands are constantly in her mouth.  The doctor led us to believe her teeth were coming in but we haven't seen anything but gums yet.

Smiley Charlotte.  We get the comment/question often, "Is she always this happy"  She loves most people and loves to smile at them

 Just liked these two pictures.

Charlotte is also doing a lot of pushups lately.  She can even get her knees under her when she has her head on the ground.  She just hasn't put the two together yet.  Good thing since my house isn't baby proofed yet!

 Now if her hands aren't in her mouth her feet are!

That tongue!  It is sooooo long!  She loves to stick it out especially when smiling.  Russ and I get a good kick out of how it curls on the end.

We love our little Char-char so much!  She gets so much attention that she is getting spoiled rotten.  But who can help but spoil their kids huh?

Lily's Kidneys -- part 2

Last Tuesday{Aug 2} was the day for Lily's tests.  It was a difficult day for both me and her.  I don't enjoy driving in large cities and since Russ couldn't get off work for her tests I was left to drive to Houston by myself.  Originally I was going to leave Charlotte and Allie with a friend, but both Charlotte and her little boy came down sick.  I figured that would be a bit much for her to handle so we enlisted the help of Russ's sister and brother.  

The girls and I got ready early that morning and I drove the hour and a half up to Cori's house.  I about had a heart attack when passing by downtown Houston because my GPS fell off the window and I had no idea where I was going.  This was right about the time that I knew I had to exchange from the 288 to the 59.  While swerving around a bit {not the best idea to do on a high way} I got the thing back up and drove the rest of the way to her house.  I was a ball of nerves leaving Charlotte with Cori since she was sick and it was her first time being babysat.  Cori assured me everything would be fine and shooed me out the door.

I drove back to Houston through the terrible construction going on around the Hospital.  I ended up circling the hospital five times trying to find the other parking garage since the first one was full and i kept missing the second one since it was hidden behind a construction sign.  We parked and made a mad dash for the cafeteria.  We had exactly five minutes to eat after getting our food.  I was shaking by this time, what a wonderful time for my blood sugar to plummet!  We ate fast and made it up to our check in spot only one minute late!

We hardly had time to sit down before we were called back for Lily's ultrasound.  Lily watched some show on Nickolodian while the tech took pictures of Lily's kidneys.  Quite a few rounds of giggles came out of Lily when the "tickly jelly" kept touching her tummy.

With that done we went and waited OVER and hour for her next test.  I got a lot of reading done while Lily watched Toy Story 3.  Since we were at a children's hospital it was really well equipped to entertain children and make them feel comfortable. 

The second test, a VCUG, was a bit more difficult for Lily.  the hospital provided Lily with a child specialist that explained the test to her and entertained her during difficult parts of the test.  They began by taking an x-ray of her kidneys and bladder.  It was then time for the catheter.  By this time the child specialist was entertaining Lily with a LeapPad so she was oblivious to anything going on.  So her bladder was filled and more pictures were taken.  The then asked Lily to relieve herself on the table so that more pictures could be taken and so the catheter would come out.  I'm not sure if Lily was in pain or not but she quickly came to tears and said she couldn't go.  She wanted to go to the restroom to go but of course they wouldn't let her.  About this time the fire alarm went off which spooked her even more.  She kept telling me that when the fire alarm goes off you have to leave no matter what! The child specialist was trying to help me keep her calm when i had the stroke of genius to ask for some bubbles that she had been blowing earlier.  I got Lily to focus on blowing the bubbles which in turn allowed her body to relax.  As soon as she was done we were rushed into the bathroom and I had about 30 seconds to get her dressed in order to evacuate the lab.

We were never really told what was going on but everyone in the building was evacuated to their waiting areas and we had to stay there for about 30 minutes.  During this time the x-ray technician had a discussion with me about what he had seen.  He told me that he immediately saw that Lily had a severe case of reflux and that the doctor would talk to me more about what would need to happen.

When allowed we made our way up to the specialists office and waited another 30 minutes.  The waiting was exhausting by this time.  Lily and I had played about every pen and paper game that I could think off.  Finally the doctor came in and we talked.  She said that Lily's kidney's appeared normal, so we don't have to worry about that.  However, the reflux was something we needed to explore.  At this point the doctor asked if we had any type of family history of reflux.  I couldn't help from staring at her.  Of course we had a family history of it!  I tried telling her about it at the last appointment but she rudely told me that family history didn't make a difference!  Even though I didn't want to a politely explained that there was in fact a history.  Now since Lily wasn't diagnosed until such a late age with relfux, she most likely won't be growing out of it.  The first step to take care of it would be to get another test done.  Ugh!  This one will determine if Lily's kidney's have been damaged by the reflux.  If they have, surgery most likely is in her future.  If they haven't been damaged then we work on proper habits. 

Wearily Lily and I trudged out of the office, back to the car and made the long drive back to Cori's.  It was rush hour so it took much longer to get back.  Charlotte was excited to see me when we arrived, Allie wasn't.  She wanted to keep swimming with her cousins! LOL!  We loaded up again, made a short stop at McDonald's for dinner, than drove home.  We arrived home around 8:30. 

It was a really long day but I'm happy to finally have some answers, even if it isn't all the answers.

Ice Cream Trucks in Texas

It's so hot in Texas right now that this is happening to all our ice cream trucks!

Lol!  Thanks for the fun picture Leslie!

Lily's Tests

Tomorrow is Lily's tests to find out if there is a reason behind her bad kidney infection.  Keep Lily in your prayers and me as well.  Lily is a bit nervous about getting "tests" done.  Hopefully they won't be too bothersome for her.  I don't like driving in Houston traffic.  Hopefully the traffic will be light.